Dec 25, 2009
The Broken Cord | The Broken Cord
At a glance:
- Author: Michael Dorris
- First Published: 1989
- Type of Work: Autobiography and sociological analysis
- Time of Work: 1971-1988
- Setting: New Hampshire and Indian reservations in South Dakota
- Principal Characters: Michael Dorris, Adam Dorris, Louise Erdrich, Jeaneen Grey Eagle
- Genres: Nonfiction, Autobiography
- Subjects: Psychology or psychologists, Authors or writers, New England, Alcoholism or alcoholics, Substance abuse, Native Americans or American Indians, Adoption or adopted children, Mental retardation, Anthropology or anthropologists, Learning disabilities
- Locales: New Hampshire, South Dakota, Indian Reservation, SD
Michael Dorris, an unmarried young anthropologist about to embark on an academic career,
decides in 1971 that he wants to become an adoptive father. Despite reservations, after the
unavoidable delays caused by red tape, the social agencies accept his application, and he is
eventually informed that a three-year- old American Indian boy is available. Undeterred by the
information that the boy has been diagnosed as mentally retarded, Dorris unhesitatingly agrees to
take the boy, flies from New Hampshire to the adoption agency in Pierre, South Dakota, and collects
the smiling, affectionate...
[The entire page is 2087 words long]
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